Ludwick's Pride in Stavi's Pinch-Hitting Role

Brian Walton

05/06/2010

Nick Stavinoha is walking in the same shoes Ryan Ludwick wore three years ago and is looking good doing it.

Exactly
three years ago today, on May 6, 2007, a journeyman outfielder who had put
together a strong first month at Triple-A Memphis made his first appearance with
the St. Louis Cardinals. His name is Ryan Ludwick.

Then
approaching his 29th birthday, Ludwick knew he was running out of
career chances. One way to remain in the major leagues was to demonstrate his
proficiency as a pinch-hitter.

Four
years later, Ludwick is an established major league starting right-fielder on a
championship-caliber club. A long-time aspiring big leaguer, 28-year-old Nick Stavinoha, has assumed Ludwick's old role as a right-handed power bat off Tony
La Russa's bench.

When
Ludwick signed a minor league deal with the Cardinals prior to the 2007 season,
his 1999 second-round draft pick promise had long expired.He couldn't hold a job in the majors
with Texas or Cleveland, underwent hip surgery, had been
struck by an errant bullet while on a team bus and endured numerous other
disabled list stints. He had spent the entire 2006 season in Triple-A where he
performed well. Yet he did not receive the call to join Detroit, even in September
when rosters expanded.

"When
I arrived here, I didn't have a choice but to get comfortable with
pinch-hitting," Ludwick recalled. "I had to prove I could do it to stick in the
majors."

Part
of Ludwick's resolve had to do with the reality of his career situation and part
of it was due to an increased level of maturity.

"When
I was with Cleveland (from 2003-05), I would have been
upset when asked to pinch hit because I was not starting," he said. "By the time
I got here, I took a lot of pride in it, and made sure I never gave an at-bat
away."

Ludwick
ended up with 11 pinch hits his first season with St. Louis, tied for 11th-most in the
National League. Three of them were home runs, tying him for the most pinch-hit
home runs by any Cardinal in a single season during the La Russa era.

That
strong debut helped solidify his standing as a major leaguer and in fact, he
would never return to Triple-A again. By 2008, Ludwick was a National League
All-Star and earned a Silver Slugger Award.

Whether
pinch-hitting in the past or playing every day now, the right-handed hitter made
it clear he did not and does not try to hit home runs, no matter the situation.
Initially, all he was looking for was a hit.

"When
I first came up, the book on me was to get ahead with a fastball away, so I
worked on an easy stroke, going away with the pitch to get a base hit to
right-center. I wasn't trying to hit home runs," Ludwick
explained.

Fast
forward to 2010 where Stavinoha is now the Cardinals' late-game hitting
specialist, with two memorable pinch hit home runs already this season. Both put
the Cardinals in the lead, with the most recent occurring in Game 1 of the
Philadelphia
series on Monday night.

It
also happened to be Stavinoha's 28th birthday, reminding everyone
that it has been a long road traveled to the major leagues.

After
having been taken in the seventh round of the 2005 draft, Stavinoha had
immediate success and was identified as a top prospect in the Cardinals system.
By 2006, his first full professional season, he had been named our Scout.com
Cardinals Minor League Player of the Year after a standout summer with Double-A
Springfield.

The
right-handed hitter first reached Memphis to
start the 2007 season, the same time fellow Texas resident Ludwick joined the Pacific
Coast League club. In the first half of 2008, Stavinoha had performed well
enough to be named the team's lone PCL All-Star and on June 22, made his major
league debut.

One
week later, he was back in Memphis. Over the next season and a half,
Stavinoha would regularly shuttle back and forth between the two stops, with
most of the time spent in Triple-A.

He
was recalled to St.
Louis two more times in 2008 and twice again in 2009, but
could never stick beyond a few weeks at a time. Stavinoha would likely have
received his third call up of the 2009 season and sixth in two years had he not
suffered a season-ending injury, a broken hand sustained when he was hit by a
pitch last August 28.

In
2010, in at least his sixth serious attempt to capture and keep a major league
spot, Stavinoha made the Cardinals out of spring training by hitting so well
they almost had to keep him. In an unusual arrangement, the club rostered six
outfielders out of camp, in part due to Stavinoha's hitting proficiency. He had
gone 3-for-6 has a spring pinch-hitter and batted .339 overall in Florida.

Like
any player, Stavinoha would love to start, but not only accepts and understands
his role as the club's primary pinch-hitter, he embraces it. This season, he is
5-for-13, .385, in his specialized assignment and has driven in three runs.
Taking the two home runs into account, his slugging percentage is .a robust .846
for a 1.221 OPS.

Stavinoha
says he treats every pinch-hit at-bat the same, since most of the situations in
which he is called upon are similar.

"I
come up when there are runners on base that need to be moved over or brought
in," Stavinoha observed. "Pinch hitting, the ball looks smaller, is moving
faster and is harder."

Like
Ludwick, Stavinoha does not try for the long ball despite his early success
hitting them. In addition to the two this season, Stavinoha collected his first
career major league pinch-hit home run last July 17th.

Over
the 14-plus years La Russa has been managing in St. Louis, only two other pinch-hitters have
more home runs than Stavinoha's three. Not surprisingly, one of them is Ludwick
with four. The team leader during that time is since-traded Chris Duncan with
six.

"If
I tried to hit a home run, I would be in trouble fast," Stavinoha explained. "If
the second or third pitch turns out to be the one to hit, I have to make sure I
don't miss it."

Just
to drill home the point, the pinch-hitting specialist repeated himself in
emphasis.